


Stars in the Sky

by Riggy_Minus



Series: 9 Days of Lancaster 2020 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, Grieving, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Volume 3 (RWBY), Star Gazing, no beta we die like Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 07:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24466981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riggy_Minus/pseuds/Riggy_Minus
Summary: Prompt: CelestialsIt's been a month since the remainder of Team JNPR joined Ruby on the journey to Haven, and things have been rough, to say the least. Nothing more so than the broken look Jaune always seems to have, in Ruby's opinion. On the spur of the moment, she decides to ask him to join her in looking up at the stars, to give a little advice that her mother and sister gave her, when she was younger.
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Ruby Rose
Series: 9 Days of Lancaster 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767241
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Stars in the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> It's 9 days of Lancaster! For the first prompt I chose, I really wanted to do star gazing, but was stuck at how to get it going, until I listened to "Cold" on the volume 3 soundtrack. It's a really good song, and great inspiration for this, but fittingly a rough one to listen to. I don't think I've ever managed to listen to it without tearing up.

As Ren and Nora went searching for food, Ruby decided to help Jaune set up camp. In the month since they had started their journey, things had been… difficult, to say the least. Ruby hated to see how quiet Jaune was, and on more than one occasion, it looked as though he’d stayed up well past the others, she hoped he was just trying to be on watch, in case of Grimm, but in that case, they really needed to have a set schedule.

“Jaune?” Oh Brothers, why did she speak? This was a bad idea, this was a BAD IDEA! Why would she do that say something SAY SOMETHING. “Um, when we’re done, do you want to come look at the stars with me?” OH GOSH WHY WOULD SHE SUGGEST THAT?! Of all the things Ruby could suggest, why did she suggest that? 

“Sure.” His reply was curt, but not rude. Relief flashed across Ruby’s face, and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Working as quickly as she could, she finished setting up the firepit, while Jaune was setting down everyone’s sleeping rolls. “Where do you want to go?” His question was lacking the feeling Ruby remembered his voice having when they were at Beacon, but she didn’t blame him. 

“Um, I figured up there might work!” She pointed to the top of the nearest shallow hill, maybe a five minute jog from the camp. “It doesn’t look too far, does it?” At the uncaring shrug she received in response, Ruby found herself frowning once again, something quite common on their travels. The silence that followed as she led him to the top of the hill was also something that had been fairly frequent. She knew that they were trying to process Pyrrha’s death, she was too, and Penny’s, and Yang  hated her now and Weiss was back in Atlas and Blake was gone and so many people had died and if she had just been faster maybe she could’ve done-

“Ruby?” The sound of Jaune’s voice, heavy with concern, snapped her out of the trance she’d found herself in, and she looked at her first friend (at Beacon), the pained smile he offered giving little respite. She remained silent as she sat down in the grass, Jaune laying beside her, trying not to frown. 

“Do you think she’s up there?” Ruby asked after several minutes passed of the duo silently staring up towards the heavens, the cosmos glittering back in a mosaic of brilliant stars. At the look of confusion Jaune gave her, Ruby elaborated. “Do you think P-Pyrrha is up there? H-Her star?”

“Wh-when I was little, my mom told me that we all have a star up there, in the sky. A-And that whenever she was on a mission as a Huntress, I should look up at the sky and know that her star was always out there, watching down at me.” She explained, chest rising and falling with somewhat panicked breaths. “A-And when she- and when she passed, Y-Yang told me that her star was still up there, in the sky, always looking down at me.” Jaune remained silent, Ruby doing her best to blink away the tears in her eyes. “S-So do you think Pyrrha is up there?”

“Ruby…” She could tell Jaune was struggling to speak to her, and in all honesty, she couldn’t blame him. It was  her fault that Pyrrha was gone now. It was  her  fault that Jaune was left without a partner, without a  lover . If she had just been faster than maybe she could’ve saved Pyrrha, or at least traded places with her. She just wanted Jaune to be happy, and she knew he would be happy if Pyrrha was still there with them.

Happier than with her here.

“I’m sorry.” She blurted out, unable to stop the tears that had been building up. “Y-You needed me to save her and I couldn’t! I p-promised, and I couldn’t!” She shouted, turning her head away from him as her sobbing dampened her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Jaune. I-I should’ve been faster. I should’ve saved her. I should’ve taken her place!”

“Stop it.” Jaune insisted, his voice pained and heavy with grief. “Don’t say that. Don’t say that you’re sorry! That was the last thing she ever said to me… that she was sorry. She kissed me, Ruby, and pushed me away. She sent me away and went up to a fight she knew she couldn’t win, because I was useless! If I had just been stronger, then Pyrrha would still be here. Beacon would still be here! So please… don't say they you’re sorry, too. Please.” 

Jaune’s hand found Ruby’s, squeezing tightly. “Jaune…” Ruby turned to see that he was weeping as well, eyes red and puffy. How long had he been holding those in, trying not to cry in front of her? “I-I won’t say it. I promise.”

“Good.” His voice was barely more than a whisper, and Ruby could barely hear the relief in his voice. Or what he said next. “I can’t lose you, too.”

“J-Jaune,” Ruby took a deep breath, pushing out a smile despite the tears spilling from her eyes. “ I  think that Pyrrha is still up there, looking down at us. I-I think that she would be proud of us - of you - for taking this journey. For continuing the fight she didn’t give up.”

“Yeah. I think she is.” He agreed, offering a pained smile. Ruby wished that it could be the same bright, dopey smile he gave her when they met, but she knew that it never would be. That was okay, though. It didn’t need to be. She knew her smile would never contain the same joy it had when she was still at Beacon, when the world was simpler. Maybe, someday, they could both have happier smiles, again, and while it would never be the same joy as before, they could find a new joy. 

Together.


End file.
